The present invention concerns ear covers and particularly ear covers including a cup over each ear and the cups joined by a connector.
Ear covers are typically worn to protect the ears from cold air or a cold environment or for affecting or providing sound received by the ear. Typical ear covers are shaped to cover the ear. The two covers are typically joined by a connector that extends between the ear covers and wraps either over the top of the head or behind the head and holds the ear covers to the ears by elastically biasing the ear covers toward each other.
The ear covers may have many different forms, including a pad of material with an inward side, and perhaps carrying an inward covering that faces toward and may be pressed against the ear and an outward side that may be covered with a decorative covering, e.g., fur.
Some ear covers, such as ear phones used for delivery of audio, are not flat and do not press against the ear on the inward side of the cover, but rather define a cup shaped chamber over the ear. The present invention is concerned with this type of ear covers.
A connector between the two ear covers may be of a resilient metal, plastic material or a like function material and has an initial shape to bias the ear covers toward each other, such that when the covers are separated to be placed over the ears, the connector urges the ear covers securely against the ears or the head. Since heads are of different sizes and widths, ears are slightly differently located on different people, and people have different comfort levels, there is typically some adjustment of the position of one or both of the cups with reference to the connector or adjustment of the connector itself that increases or decreases the effective length of the connector, perhaps to accommodate each head size or to reposition the ear covers at the ears. In typical ear covers, the adjustment is made at the connector by adjusting the length of the connector or by adjusting the positions of the ear covers on the connector. The invention concerns the latter type of adjustment.